And then there were three.

For all the time the show spent teasing us that there was going to be an extremely early merge, last night instead turned out to be a tribal swap. The two big tribes became—sigh—three very small tribes. I know that Jeff Probst loves the three-tribe idea almost as much as he loves the idea of having a hundred different idols in the game at once. Myself, I can’t stand the three-tribe thing because, inevitably, one tribe is always extremely weaker than the other two, and the smaller tribes make it easier for bullies to survive. Three bullies on a tribe of ten are a nuisance. Three bullies on a tribe of five are a majority. We discovered that last night when Jenna was finally voted out and Devin flashed his big smile.

Here are the new tribes:

SAVU:

1. Jenna (Formerly of Toka)
2. Ori (Savu)
3. Alexis (Savu)
4. Jelly (Formerly of Toka)
5. Devin (Formerly of Toka)

DINA:

1. Linnea (Formerly of Savu)
2. Christian (Formerly of Savu)
3. Sharonda (Formerly of Savu)
4. Lewis (Formerly of Toka)
5. Kilby (Formerly of Toka)
6. Eric (Formerly of Savu)

TOKA:

1. Brady (Toka)
2. Kristin (Formerly of Savu)
3. Carter (Savu/Toka)
4. Maggie (Toka)
5. Thien Ann (Toka)
6. Mike (Toka)

On the new Toka tribe, Kristin went out of her way to try to make herself useful and came across as being a bit of a know-it-all. However, that appears to have impressed Brady, who is a bit of a know-nothing.

On the Dina tribe, I have to admit that I was pretty worried about Lewis, who spent most of this episode dealing with a sudden illness. However, the main thing that happened on Dina was the sudden bromance between Eric and Kilby. It turns out that they’re both equally annoying! And they’re both into improv! Who would have guessed (other than everyone)? That said, Eric is coming on a bit strong and Kilby doesn’t strike me as being the most loyal guy on the island.

Finally, on the new Savu, Devin, Ori, and Jelly had a majority because they’re all members of the Helicopter Alliance. The minute they lost immunity, it was pretty obvious that Jenna was going to get voted out. The only person surprised by it was Jenna. There was really no reason to vote out Jenna, beyond the fact that Devin was too stupid to accept that she’s a wedding photographer.

As far as Devin goes, it’s hard to think of a more worthless player. He’s condescending. He’s rude. He thinks he’s a badass, but whenever his tribe goes to tribal council, it’s largely because of his own piss-poor leadership skills and the fact that he sucks in competitions. Devin’s an actor and, as such, he’s always on and he comes across as being very fake. And yet somehow, he’s become a leader. My hope is that the show’s editors are setting Devin up for a big fall because I really don’t want to sit through an entire season just to see this preening jerk end up in the final three. Then again, it would be satisfying to see him get eliminated due to a firemaking challenge.

And that’s it for this week!

Throughout the history of Survivor, there have been plenty of people who had to leave the show because they had a genuine medical emergency. They’ve either seriously injured themselves while competing, fallen victim to malnutrition, or developed an infection of some sort while living on the beach. It’s never enjoyable to see someone eliminated for that sort of reason, though we are all glad that the show has a medical team on hand to look after the players.

Then there are the players who pretend to be ill to get off the show so they won’t be voted out. The prime example of this was Colton, who Jeff Probst has always claimed faked having appendicitis to get out of One World. (Colton, for the record, swears that he actually had a severe bacterial infection that felt like appendicitis.) This week, we got the most blatant example yet of a player faking an injury when Rob announced that he had to quit the game because his foot hurt.

The medical team was brought in to look at his foot. We were given a close-up of his foot while it was being examined, and I can say that it did not appear to be injured in any way. There were no bruises. There was no swelling. As a former dancer, I know a little bit about ankle and toe injuries, and Rob… well, I don’t want to call him a liar. If he was in pain, it was probably due to stress. Considering that Brady competed in an immunity challenge after chopping off a piece of his thumb and Kristen has a broken foot, it was hard to have much sympathy for Rob’s declaration that his foot pain made it impossible for him to continue in the game.

Rob, who started out so gung-ho and so determined to run the game, left the Savu tribe at the beginning of this episode. Most of the Savu Tribe suspected that he left not because of his foot but because he was on the wrong side of the cote at Tribal and his bizarre mid-council conversation with Eric didn’t work out the way that he thought it would. Rob left his immunity idol to Carter, who started this episode at the bottom of the totem pole with his tribe. However, Carter then left the Savu tribe when he was given an opportunity to visit the Toka tribe, search for a hidden advantage at their camp, and join their tribe if he felt like it. Carter didn’t find the hidden advantage, largely because the Savu tribe went through his bag and found the information about the hidden advantage while Carter was having a one-on-one conversation with Mike. Brady and Maggie were the ones who found the advantage, which turned out to be an extra vote at tribal. Carter, however, still decided to mutiny and join the Toka tribe.

Meanwhile, Devin volunteered to visit the Savu tribe. Devin did not mutiny because he felt that their shelter was not up to his standards. He did reconnect with Sharonda and Ori, with whom he made an alliance during the initial helicopter ride to the island. With Sharonda’s help, Devin found the hidden advantage. He also told everyone at the Savu tribe that Kilby could not be trusted.

Toka entered the immunity challenge with 11 members. Savu only had seven, but Savu still managed to win not just immunity but also four hens. The main reason Toka lost was because Savu had to sit out four people and Devin took it upon himself to tell Kilby that he wasn’t allowed to play, despite the fact that Kilby solves puzzles for a living.

At tribal, Devin, Brady, Patt, Jelly, and Mike were all determined to vote out Kilby. Devin felt he couldn’t trust Kilby. Brady was mad because he felt Kilby had insinuated that he was stupid. Kilby, however, was able to convince his allies — Jenna, Maggie, and Thien Ann — to join him in voting for Patt. Lewis and Carter, the two new members of the tribe, decided to join with Kilby, and Patt was voted out by a vote of 6-5.

I actually liked Patt. She reminded me of my best friend. But Brady and Devin have both been so smug that it was nice seeing them get blindsided. Devin, in particular, needs to get a grip and stop being so cocky. Brady can be a jerk, but he’s important to have around if you want to win challenges. I’m not sure what Devin really brings to the tribe beyond his own attitude.

For those keeping track of advantages: Carter has an immunity idol. Jelly has an immunity idol. Maggie has an extra vote. Devin has an extra vote. And there’s still an immunity idol sitting on Exile Island.

Next week — could it already be time for a merge? Or are they reshuffling the tribes? We’ll find out!

Who doesn’t enjoy a chaotic Tribal Council?

Of course, the interesting thing about last night’s Tribal Council was that it didn’t start out particularly chaotic. It was Savu’s first experience with Tribal, and Jeff Probst guided them through the usual discussion about what was happening at camp. Everyone agreed that the tribe felt like a family. Some people mentioned that they were annoyed with a certain person at camp. (That person was Eric.) Some people mentioned that they weren’t sure they could trust one of their tribemates. (That tribemate was Ana.) We, the viewers, knew that the vote was going to come down to either Eric or Ana, and we knew it would probably be a close one.

Rob, however, did not know that.

Rob, who is a force of chaos if nothing else, went through a remarkable and somewhat implausible transformation this episode. He went from being obsessed with voting Eric out to being obsessed with keeping Eric in the game. Rob told the producers that he felt it was his duty to give someone a second chance at life. (Rob is a bit self-important.) Before Tribal, Rob approached Eric and told him that he couldn’t explain what he was going to do or why, but that Eric had to trust him.

So, what did Rob do? Right before it was time to vote, Rob suddenly asked Probst if he could take Eric to the side and talk to him. As the entire tribe watched, Rob whispered to Eric that everyone was going to vote Eric out and that Eric needed to play his Shot in the Dark. If the Shot in the Dark failed, Rob would use his immunity idol to save Eric. Rob then told the rest of the tribe that he was asking Eric a question to determine whether or not he would vote for him.

When it came time to vote, Rob decided to vote for himself. Presumably, Rob did this so he wouldn’t get on anyone’s bad side during the vote. Production told him that he wasn’t allowed to do that. So Rob instead voted for Eric, the guy he was trying to save.

When it came time to tally the votes, Eric did not play his Shot in the Dark. Rob rolled his eyes and did not play his idol. It turned out, however, that Eric knew more about the vote than Rob did. By a vote of 6-4, Ana was the one voted off the island. Ana looked shocked, despite the fact that she basically spent this entire episode alienating her tribemates by talking about randomly targeting people. Ana was so distrusted that the tribe decided to keep Eric, one of the most socially awkward people to ever play the game, over her.

(In the end, Alexis, Christian, Eric, Kirstin, Linnea, and Sharonda all voted for Ana. Rob, Ana, Ori, and Carter voted for Eric.)

This week’s episode definitely left me smiling. After weeks of unanimous Big Brother votes, it’s always nice to be reminded that anything can happen at a good Tribal Council. Eric, who seemed like a goner, lived to laugh another day. And Rob basically just sabotaged his game for no good reason, because now the most talkative guy on the tribe knows that Rob has an idol.

A few other notes:

“There’s my thumb.” Thanks for sharing, Brady! Actually, for all the hype that Brady’s injury received, hitting his thumb with the axe didn’t seem to slow Brady down at either of last night’s challenges. It was interesting to compare Brady’s reaction to hurting his thumb to Kirstin’s more stoic reaction to spraining her ankle.

The immunity challenge was brutal for the Savu tribe. Jeff Probst loves to say, “You’re still in this!” but it became pretty clear, early on, that Savu was not in it. Savu also lost the reward challenge during this episode. For now, at least, the Toka tribe appears to be working better as a team.

I loved the sight of Probst ranting and yelling at everyone to keep fighting during the immunity challenge. Soaked by the rain, Jeff Probst went from being Survivor’s somewhat goofy host to being an Ahab-like figure, yelling as the tribe tried to move a fake whale through the water. (You probably had to be there.)

Lewis returned from Exile and joined the Toka tribe. Lewis immediately told everyone every single detail about his trip to Exile, including the fact that there’s an immunity idol sitting atop a mast. Lewis — what are you thinking!? Lewis is just trying to be honest, but I could tell that most of the tribe didn’t believe him when he said that he didn’t get the idol. Now he’s got Kilby, of all people, talking about targeting him.

Speaking of idols, Jelly found Toka’s idol. So, as of now, there are three idols in play. Rob has Savu’s idol and, last night, he revealed that fact to Eric. Jelly has Toka’s idol and, so far, only Patt knows that she has it. And the third idol is currently sitting atop a mast on Exile Island.

Finally, the cringiest moment of last night’s episode had to be Eric trying to teach everyone on Savu how to do improv. I kept expecting him to yell, “Michael Scarn — FBI!” To be honest, that was probably enough to justify voting him off the island. I’m actually surprised he survived.